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Thursday, January 29, 2015

A Little Loaf Pan

In life, one thing leads to the next to the next to the next... LOL... it happens to most of us... and that is what this is all about... 

I love die cuts...  Punches, inks, oh... okay.. I love it all... but I do love my dies...  of all kinds...  so one day I was checking out the Sizzix web site... and then it took me to Eileen Hull's  Art with Heart Challenge...  and oh my goodness a challenge... 

Well I had to do it... as I love die's, love challenges and love all the pretties I can make with different challenges...  so I was in... 

In December I decided to also do Frilly and Funkie challenge of the 12 days of Christmas...  and I had so very much fun doing it...  it was a real challenge... as my time was so very limiting at that time... but it was fun... and also entered some of the tags and projects into Eileen's challenge for the month of December...  Oh ... I won... I won the little loaf pan die... yippppeeee yeay... 

Eileen sent me a very special one... one that went on the road trip with her... and it is even signed... love it Eileen... I will cherish it... 

Okay... now the fun started... to make things with this new little die... which by the way.. is not so little...  biggest one I own... I love it... made quite a few...  made some into baskets and some into a little loaf pan with some cookies as a gift... but I wanted to create something a little bit different... back to the drawing board... 

This is what I created... 

 
I cut two of the loaf pans... and then I made some really specials papers with textured stencils and stamping...  and covered the loaf pans... then I glued the two together... one being upside down...  to create a wonderful little table arrangement... 
 
 

 
A couple of little knobs for either side... for a very finished look...  and some flowers... 

 
The flowers are made from my favorite media... baby wipes...  LOL... best thing going... clean up, let dry and then cut for your flowers... 
 
The largest flower is made with a Sizzix heart die... that has to be at least 100 years old... LOL.. one of the first ones I bought...  about 11 years ago...  a little red die... only about 2.5 x 1.5 in size... an oldie...

 
I tied some ribbon that I died to match the flowers and tied that in the middle of the two loaf pans... and had a wonderful table arrangement...  a couple of candles and it is perfect... 



BUT... I never stop at one thing...  I wanted something else to balance this ... so I made this little bird house, drawer and BIRD...  I love this little bird... it is also an Eileen Hull die cut...  it has wings on both sides and so it can fly... really fly... LOL...  how do you think it landed on the house and another one is one the loaf pans...  ??? 

More baby wipe flowers...  more fun... more ribbons and bows... and other than the bird... all graphic 45 papers... 
the bird is made from paper that I created with dyes... 
 
So there you have my little spring in January... a beginning of spring that will soon be here... our chickens are starting to breed which means we will have little ones before we know it... and the seeds have been ordered and we will be planting soon too... 
 
Hope you have gotten your loaf pan die... I also have a few other things I am going to try with it... and will share when they are done... 
 
thanks EILEEN for the Special die of this loaf pan...
and I have enjoyed playing with it... 
Hope you all have a very special day, week-end and the first month of the year is almost gone...  yikes... where ever does the time go... 
 
Love, Light and Peace...
Bonnie 

Thursday, January 22, 2015

2014 in review... hic cupping

 
 
I am so very honored to be in this SITUATION at this time...  having been granted this fantastic honor is something for me to be very proud of as an artist...  I love sharing and creating all that I do... and then to be honored by fellow artists that are also creating beautiful pieces of at work also... is really a highlight in my life... 
I
THANK YOU
 all very much from the bottom of my heart...
You are all very special...
and your art is amazing...
so to be honored by you is super. 
 
 
 
In sharing 2014 with you,
 I have to share all the different styles that I love to create in...
well most of them anyway...
I love to use all kinds of different media to create with...
such as I love to knit,
crochet,
 play with clay pieces,
 jewelry in Sterling Silver
and also in coppers... 
So the pieces I will be sharing today on this blog are mostly in Paper...
 I do love to sew also...
and will share a ongoing project also... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This card  is one of my very favorites to make for special occasions for friends and family...  They are very special ... use a lot of papers, and also take over 3 hours to make... even after the first one... LOL... My first one took over 3 days of this and that added and taken away... just like any project... 
 
When you open the card, you see a scored background with a heart cut out... and a display of paper flowers... each flower and leaf is handmade with much love... as you how do paper crafting know... 

 
On the left side of the card and the right side you have two panels that are the same...  even though they might look a little different, it is only because of other layers you see... like the heart from the front of the card....  this is all embossed and of course all the paper lace made...  layers upon layers of papers... 

 
The card is large... did I mention that... it is 8.5 inches tall... and each panel is 7 inches wide... so it is large when open... that is what makes it so very special when it is received...
I generally will make a box for this card to be sent in... and then it is placed into a priority box to mail... 
 


 
This is the center panel... up close to see all the details...
The main piece here is vellum that is embossed... and then the flowers...  again matching the ones on the inside panel...
and of course more laces...
You can pick up the vellum to see the underneath panels...
again about 5 layers of papers... 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
I have some LOVES in my life... and these flowers are one of them... I love making pretty flowers...
 
I love teaching... and one of my very favorite classes is teaching how to make a box...  but the fun part starts when you learn how to make over 12 different flowers in the class... oh what a blast that is...
 
The ladies walk out floating on a cloud... and within a week the e-mails start flying in to me about what fun they are having making all kinds of pretties...  I love it... sharing like that is one special activity that life allows us to do and we need to do it more... 
 
 


I also LOVE to paint...  love to do mixed medias on a canvas... and love to create a whole new room in my house decorating with these new paintings... such fun... the fun only stops when the mind does...  I decided to do a few seasonal projects this year... and have really enjoyed making them... and also enjoyed some of the comments that I have received... some are typical... but other comments are heart felt and very moving... those are the ones I cherish... 


 
This painting brought many such comments...
as it is all about our farm...
the crows,
the garlic, t
he trees,
the leaves, t
he branches...
all things that make it uniquely our farm... 
 even the butterfly...
as the butterfly gardens are really pretty...
when blooming with all the butterflies working it hard... 
so wonderful to see...
we need to help the butterflies and bees...
or we will be out of food... 
 I should add REAL FOODS...
 not the artificial ones.. 

 
Some times I have trouble with seeing parts of a project... so I take a few pictures... this way you can see other parts... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is another project that I LOVE... and it is hanging in our den...  the whole room became alive... and the devas of the house love it... GREATLY too... 
 
I now have renamed this
CLAUDIA'S DREAM...
as it was Claudia's photos that inspired this shadow box...  and the feelings that I received from the in depth and heart felt comments were many and all loved and kept with the project... in an envelope on the back of the project... 
Claudia's DREAM.... 
A very special piece... 
My SECOND win... 
 
 
 

 
This is another project that I did, for Our Creative Corner... and it took me a whole month to create... and it was super... made a whole huge change in my life... 
 
I really got into all kinds of techniques that I had been wanting to try... new products, new this and that... loved every minute of the month it took to create...
 
Here are a few of the many pages in that Cubby... 




 
 
 
 
Did I tell you that I love CROWS...
Oh dear me... I forgot...
 
Well I do...
and that is what the Cubby was all about...
 
me and my crows...
I have since had a family nest in our back wooden lot... it is only 5 acres but untouched trees there... and a perfect place for them... they are so very happy to be there... I can tell.. the welcome sign is hanging out side the nest.. LOL...  cute... 
 
 
 
 
 
Tags
 
 
I also made a few crow tags this year... 
Love CROWS... 



 
Even made a small envelope one... omg... I love crows.. 

 
There is one there with the blue roses... had to sneak one in...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tea Bag Folding 

 
I taught a lot of Tea Bag Folding Classes this past year too... 
I love making tea bag medallions...
This one was sent to me via my dear friend Penny... we have been computer friends since we first met on a Yahoo group... that was over 13 year ago... wow time does fly Penny... and I still love you as much as the first time we shared things... and I made the Panda book from some of your pictures...  do you remember that one???
 
Anyway... tea bag folding is a an ART... 100% of ART...  too... you take little squares of printed paper, and fold each one the same and then create the medallion...  this one took 10 squares with over 15 folds on each one of the 1.5 X 1.5 squares... and then glued to create this...  ART... 100%... 
 
A form of origami sort of ...  and very beautiful in all ways...
I also created the art on the actual tiles...  all part of the art to me... 
 
yes I do love Tea Bag Folding... 
 
 
 
 
MY GIRL 
 
Now I also love to have fun...
Fun in all ways... 
 I had been wool felting
(white wool dyed with Distress inks...)  
Talk about fun...
I love inks, and the more I have the better I feel....  
and so I used  my left over wool on this fun GIRL ....
 
Her arms move...
and she is ME... 

 
Multi dimensional in all ways...  LOVE it... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Making art on fabric... for my ART Quilt 


An on going project...
I am making a wall quilt... 
 and the squares are muslin...
22 x 22 inches... 
large pieces...
and then I take them and create art on them....
 
This was my first square I made for the quilt...
and that was three years ago...
I love birds...
and this one came out so GREAT... 
I also used dies and made stamps, and also the leaves are my own stamps... 
from erasers that I carved...
so easy... 
try it...
 
I have about 15 more squares to go... and someday it will be quilted and ready to hang ...  and I know exactly where it is going too... perfect place...





Clock using Astrid's Techniques... 
 


 
From time to time we are very in AWE of someones work...
I am very in AWE of Astrids work... 
 love the techniques and the colors that she uses...
so I created this CLOCK with Astrid's technique...
and it is proudly in our bedroom... 
love it...
thank you Astrid for all the ideas... 
and all the love that goes into each and every one of them...
 
 
Wall Hanging 

 
A funny story... 
Do you ever make something ...
not like it...
put it in a place...
that maybe you will use it SOMEDAY??? 
 but most likely will cut it up for a pocket
or maybe an envelope etc... 
 
Well I had this piece of paper on my work table ...
that was going into that pile ...
but I needed something to try out
my new spackle compound out on...
so I grabbed this piece of paper...
also a stencil that I had made for a piece of left over plastic and a die cut... 
and had fun...
wow...
 this if fun...
Again, I put it in the pile...
 not really knowing what to do with it...
 
 
 
Well one day I saw a challenge and decided to play with that piece of paper... LOL..
I loved it... 
I used the contrasting color on the plaster...
and added some BRIGHT FLOWERS that I made...
and hung a little piece on the bottom..
and wow..
I LOVED it...
 
and low and behold it won quite a few challenges that week... 
one was OUR CREATIVE CORNER...
 my first win... 
 
 
 
Kudzu Basket 



 
I also teach a class on basket making...
 always in September...
 it is an all day class...
and always a fun filled.....
 ole timey and fun...
the baskets are made from Kudzu...
 a local 'weed' that is very invasive
 and is great for making baskets and paper from... 
 
I needed to decorate one and take to a friend ... 
 but I loved it so much that I made her another one... 
LOL.
she loved it too... 
this one I needed to keep...
as I love the little flowers... 
the larger flowers are made from baby wipes...
 I try not to use things that I can't recycle... 
 I am very environmentally involved too..
 
 
 
 
Another Wall Hanging...
  

 
Well I already told you I love butterflies...
we have butterfly gardens and such...
and we always plant new mild weed around for them
 to lay their eggs in... 
 not cutting until later in the following season... when the new mild weed is up and growing... 
 
This piece is called ODE to the BUTTERFLY...
 
 




Dimensional Art 
 
 
 

 
Putting dimension onto paper is great fun...
I love to make different layers also ...
so I sunk this layer and then created more layers above it... 
 and of course flowers,
multi winged butterflies and bows...
a girly girl card... 
what fun... 
 
 
 
 
 
Recycling ... or upcycling

 
Oh... an old broken frame that was given a new life...
  I love it...
 it has all the things I love on it... 
daisies,
 butterflies...
purple...
swirls...
birds... (I hand painted that one )
  and then a fun project on top of all that...
then the fun part came...
 to hang it in a special place...
 
 
 
 
 
Personal challenges
we create for our own growths...

 
I wanted to have flowers growing out of paper...
My own personal challenge...  
so I created this piece... 
wow...
it was fun to do... 
the flowers took the longest part...
 and it was tedious...
but I love it... 
and the challenge was great for
my hands to create in a different way....   
 
 
 
 
ARTISTS TRADING BLOCKS   

 
I have made a lot of projects this past year for Funkie and Frilly... and this one ....
using ATB...
which at the time,
I didn't have the die for the ATB... 
So I made due...
 and this layered box sculpture
was a love and took me almost 30 hours to create... 
what fun I had... 
each side revealing a different bird scene... 
love my birds...
 
 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these projects...
I love sharing with you as much as possible...
 
 
I have a few extra large projects that I am working on now,
so will be taking a vacation from all the challenges
and daily comments to all my friends...
I will miss you all...
 but hopefully when these are finished,
life will resume back to more challenges...
 
All of these projects above
can be seen on my blog which is located at
 
I also have a few other blogs attached...
and you can view our farm
and other projects that I have made over the past 15 years and posted... 
all the other blogs are on the right hand side of this blog...
 
Thank You all for your love and cherished moments in LIFE...  
 
 
 
 
With much  Love, Light and Peace... Bonnie...